


Tell Me If I Changed (I Won't Tell Nobody)

by NewEyes



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-01
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-05-17 17:24:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5879338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NewEyes/pseuds/NewEyes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"And just who have you killed as a gift for me," Len drawled. "I can do my own killing, you know." He smiled.</p><p>"No, no, he's alive. We caught him! Us, the Pallazis! We know he's a great enemy of yours Captain Cold, and we value our relationship."</p><p>Len could feel a headache coming on. "So who exactly is it that you've caught for me?"</p><p>"Why, the Flash of course!"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. December

It was a cold night in December and Len stomped down the street towards his meeting with Pallazi. The dark clouds above threatened to turn the drizzle into a downpour but Len didn't mind, one of the benefits of having a warm and waterproof costume. He wondered what he would do in the summer when it was warm, he would definitlely end up overheating. He'd worked hard to inspire fear and competance in his Rogues, it would be no good if he was sweating buckets and passed out from the heat. He'd have to think about that.

There were few people out at this time, especially in this neighbourhood. He thought he saw the eyes of a passerby flicker over him with recognition but they kept their head down and said nothing. The buildings loomed over the streets like ugly giants and he quickened his step. It had been a quiet few weeks, a few small heists here and there, nothing big, nothing exciting. No Flash either. He could feel the Rogues slipping, they were all such disparate personalities, they needed a common goal to work towards. Something with the Flash. Or a really challenging big score. Len grinned at the thought. There were some parts of being Captain Cold that he didn't much care for but the adrenaline and buzz from a good heist were unbeatable.

He finally reached his destination. It wasn't the shabbiest building on the block, but that wasn't saying much, he pushed open the door and strode into the reception area. He kept his hand close to his cold gun. He didn't think the Pallazis would be stupid enough to take him on, they had a healthy fear of him and the Rogues but you never knew with these small time criminal gangs. It was good to have their support though, they had a detailed knowledge of the streets that could be the difference between prison and getting away with a million in diamonds. The reception was empty apart from a young girl playing on her phone sitting behind the reception desk. He opened his mouth to speak, but she interrupted him.

"Floor fifteen. Elevators are there," she said gesturing to the left of the desk and then turned back to her game.

He rode the elevator up to the top floor. He wondered why they had asked for an in person meeting on such short notice. Hopefully some information for a good heist. The elevator opened onto a large office, Ronaldo Pallazi sat behind his desk, flanked by three of his crew.

"Captain Cold."

"Pallazi." Len smirked.

"I'm guessing you wondering why I wanted to meet."

"I'm hoping it's good news."

"Oh, yes, yes." Pallazi said quickly. "We appreciate our partnership with the Rogues a great deal, we have a gift.

"A gift?"

"Yes!" Pallazi gestured to one of the bulky men guarding him and the man exited the room. He returned a few seconds later dragging a body by the leg. There was a bag over it's head.

"And just who have you killed as a gift for me," Len drawled. "I can do my own killing, you know." He smiled.

"No, no, he's alive. We caught him! Us, the Pallazis! We know he's a great enemy of yours Captain Cold, and we value our relationship. Plus, with his powers and abilities he's too dangerous for us to keep around here much longer. We've been keeping him drugged, though he goes through them at an alarming pace. We figured you'd be much better suited, with your cold gun, either to keep him or kill him, whatever you want!"

Len could feel a headache coming on. "So who exactly is it that you've caught for me?"

"Why, the Flash of course!" Pallazi grinned, and pulled the bag off Barry's head. He was missing his cowl but yep, that definitely looked like Allen. When Len'd walked in the door he'd been dying for some news on the Flash. This wasn't how he'd imagined getting his answers, the universe had a funny way of granting wishes sometimes. Len needed to stall for time so he could figure out what his next move would be.

"You know his identity then?"

"No," Pallazi shook his head. "I mean, now we know the Flash is some young guy with brown hair but I don't recognise him, I have no idea who that is," he gestured at Barry. "Do you want to kill him now? You have your gun, right?"

God damn it. It would be so easy and solve all his problems, and there was a time in his youth when he would have done it, no hesitation. The Flash caused a lot of problems for the Rogues. He thwarted their plans and took their money. But over the past few months Len had been able to get a look at the man under the mask, and that was the problem. The kid was young and he was a genuinely good person. As good as you'd get in real life anyway. Len knew plenty about the bad sides of humanity, ever since he was a boy, trapped in a house with his father and Lisa. He wouldn't weep if most of the Rogues died, most of them were not nice people. Get angry and get revenge? Sure. Get upset? No.

But there was some small part of Len that he hadn't managed to destroy with booze and sex that wanted to believe in the good parts of humanity, that there _were_ still good parts of humanity. Barry was proof of that. He couldn't destroy it.

Trying to keep Barry locked up would be a foolish idea. Way too dangerous long term. Len always made sure his knowledge of the Flash's powers were up to date, and now it seemed the kid could vibrate through walls? Plus, all of his other powers? Hmmm, no. Not going to happen.

But Len couldn't just let the Flash go though, it wasn't that simple. Pallazi knew that he had the Flash now. If the Flash suddenly started showing up again Pallazi would know that Cold was responsible. He would get a reputation. Weak, too weak to kill, and they would start getting challenges, the Rogues wouldn't have the same respect they did now. Suddenly an idea came to him. The Flash, well, he liked getting criminals off the streets. Len could save the Flash now, and when the guy woke up he would convince him to help take down the Pallazis. A team up. Captain Cold and the Flash, taking down criminals! He almost laughed. Barry wouldn't trust him but the kid was good, he would cave and it would work in Len's favour.

For the greater good. Len was sure he could convince the Flash to help, despite their animosity. If the Pallazis were all dead then they wouldn't be able to spread any rumours about what'd happened. It would take some careful planning and thought on his end, how to make this work, but Pallazi was still looking at him. waiting for an answer and it was the best idea he'd got.

"I'll take him to go, thank you," he said.

"Do you want to call somebody to come and pick him up?" Pallazi asked.

Len shook his head. Best not to get the others involved. "I'll give you an address." Len scribbled down the address of one of his more disposable safe houses. "You drop him off there in two hours. I'll take care of everything after that.

"Great! I hope you'll remember who caught him for you." Len almost felt bad for betraying them. But not really. They killed people on the regular, just for being on the wrong street or looking the wrong way.

"How many of your crew know he's here?" he asked. 'How many people will I have to kill?' he thought.

"Just me and my boys in this room," Pallazi gestured. "Don't worry, they know how to keep a secret, I pay them well." Len nodded.

"How did you catch him anyway?"

"We've all got our secrets," Pallazi said tapping the tip of his nose with his finger.

Len turned and started to leave but...hang on, he was forgetting something... He thought about it for a moment. Oh yeah. Puns. Just before he entered the elevator he turned back and smirked.

"Have an ice night."

*

Barry woke up gradually, he couldn't quite remember what had happened, he definitely wasn't at home. He opened his eyes. He seemed to be lying on someone's sofa. He blinked and struggled to get up.

"So you're awake."

Barry started and looked towards the voice. Captain Cold was sitting in an armchair across from him. His cold gun was pointed at Barry.

"What's going on, what do you want? Did you kidnap me?"

"Do you not remember, kid?"

"I was going after the Pallazis, I think, and then...I don't remember, they hit me with something. Was that on your orders? Were all the murders they committed just a trick to catch me?"

"We had a deal Scarlet, and believe it or not, I intended to keep my side. The Pallazis managed this on their own. Which to be honest is pretty impressive, more impressive that I'd expect from them."

"Right." Barry was still pretty sceptical. "So why are you here pointing your gun at me?"

"The Rogues and the Pallazis have a basic connection, they respect us. They respect me, and they know that you're my nemesis." Cold grinned. "They weren't going to just kill you without consulting me about it first. I managed to convince them to hand you over."

"So...what are you going to do now?"

"Well, you're free to go if you really want." Barry started to get up. "But...I also have a proposition I think might interest you."

"What? I'm not interested in helping you with a score."

"I know that Allen. I'm talking about helping you get rid of the Pallazis."

"I'm not going to kill them!" Barry was indignant.

"Of course not. I remember your rules, no killing right? Jail then, if you insist." Barry watched Len closely, something was off, Len was lying. He sat up properly.

"Why would you want to help me?"

"What? Can't a man be just a concerned citizen?"

"I know you Snart."

"Well, if you must know, the Pallazis have been particularly annoying of late, and this situation really is the last straw. We want them gone, you want them gone, seems like an opportunity."

"All right, say I was considering this. What would be our next move?"

"Well, understanding how they managed to incapacitate the Flash might be a good start."

"I don't know. Well, they caught me surprise. They must have injected me with the drug somehow when I was distracted. But I didn't feel it until it was too late. It acted fast. Before I could react to vibrate and get rid of the gas, I was out like a light. And then I woke up here. I haven't been..." Barry stopped. "Oh no. My family. How long do you think I was out?"

"Hmm, considering how long you've been missing? I'd say about two weeks. "

"Oh man." Barry ran his hands through his hair. "Everyone will have been so worried. Shit. I should go and see them."

"They've been waiting two weeks already, Flash. They can wait a little longer. We should take out the Pallazis before anybody else gets hurt by them. I assume that was your original goal?"

"Yeah, yeah, I guess."

"Probably best to wait until nightfall, that's when the crew come together, they'll all be sleeping now. The only people who know how to take you down are Pallazi and his three closest goons. So I take them in the office, you take the rest of the crew in the building?"

"Sure." Barry's knee bounced up and down rapidly. "So nightfall.... that's what, 3 hours or so?"

"Yes." Cold took his gun into his hand and started dismantling it.

"What are you doing?"

"Checking everything's in working order. I don't have superpowers kid, I actually have to prepare before a fight."

"Yeah, yeah, of course." Barry was already bored, and it hadn't even been a minute.

"Is there anything..." Barry began, but then his stomach rumbled. Rather loudly. Snart looked over at him with an amused expression and Barry felt himself flush.

"Food's in the kitchen, mostly canned stuff in the cupboards but there might be a few odds and ends in the freezer as well. I heard you eat a lot, and you probably haven't eaten properly in a few days at least."

Barry rummaged around in the kitchen for a bit, came back with a small haul of food and sat back down on the couch.

"So," he said munching on a peanut butter sandwich. "Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

"Hmmm, nothing much of consequence," Len looked up briefly and then went back to cleaning his gun.

"Len," Barry said and stopped. "....for some reason I get the feeling you're hiding something from me." Len's expression didn't change at all.

"Like what?"

"I don't know."

"Well then," Len shrugged slightly, but something was just _off_. Barry knew it in his gut.

"You have an ulterior motive here. I don't expect you to tell me but just promise me no innocents are going to get hurt. If it's about stealing something, yeah I'll be pissed but that's just you, that's okay. But no dying. Please," he met Len's eyes and held them.

"I...I promise no innocents will get hurt," Len said slowly and Barry sighed with relief.

"Thank you."

*

Len stood over Pallazi and aimed the cold gun at his head. The three goons were dead, they'd fired at him first, self defence was a good excuse. The Flash was busy with the rest of the building, so he was all alone with Pallazi. The glass windows of the office looked out over the city, and if he squinted he thought he could see the outline of Star Labs.

"Well, well," Pallazi said. "Captain Cold working with the Flash. I never would have guessed. You've gone soft, Snart."

"Says the man about to die," Len said, shifting his gun slightly. Pallazi's eyes tracked every small movement.

"I'm not dead yet though. That must mean you want something."

Len narrowed his eyes. "Just curious." He laughed. " It won't save you... but it might make your death quicker," he paused for effect. "How exactly did you manage to defeat the Flash? Sorry, but you just don't seem smart enough do to something like that on your own." Pallazi's eyes flickered fearfully from the gun, to Len's face, and then back to the gun again. Pallazi licked his lips and took in a shuddery breath. Len shot a blast of cold right next to the man's face and he jumped and yelled with fear.

"Yes, we had help," he stuttered. "A man, he gave us some tips, gave us the drugs that would keep the Flash under. I don't know his name, I never met him i person," Pallazi cried. "You have to believe me! I don't know anything else, please don't kill me! Just let me go, I won't say anything to anyone about you working with the Flash."

Len considered it. Just for a moment. But it was risky. Way too risky. Pallazi was a cold blooded murderer and it wasn't as if anybody would really miss him, Len told himself. He'd tried to play the game and he'd lost, Len had won.

"Sorry," he said. "But I can't risk that." He fired the gun.

As he fired a streak of lightning came out of nowhere and suddenly Pallazi was gone, Len's blast hit the windows, shattering them. Suddenly Barry was standing in front of him.

Len swallowed. "How long were you watching?"

"Long enough. I was hoping you were just bluffing, hoping you'd change your mind." Barry looked hurt and betrayed. "You promised no killing. You promised me..."

"I promised no innocents," Len said. "Pallazi was no innocent."

Barry just gave him a look.

"I've disappointed you," Len said, and Barry turned away.

"Yeah. I guess I was really starting to hope..."he trailed off, and sighed. "But I guess you are who you are, there's no changing that."

"I've told you that many times kid."

"Yeah, you have. I took Pallazi to the precinct, they'll process him, we'll sort something out." Barry sighed again. "Right, I'm going to go and see my friends and family, let them know I'm okay. You better get out of here before the cops show up," he said.

"You're not going to arrest me?"

"What would be the point anymore?" Barry sighed and shook his head. "I'll see you around," then he was gone.

Len felt a chill from the broken window and pulled his parka tightly around him. As he looked out the window he could see a red streak moving through the night, darting this way and that through the city's streets.

So...it seemed like the Flash had officially given up on him. Well...good, he told himself. He didn't need that do-gooder hounding him all the time anyway. He turned away from the window and looked at the dead bodies of the guards. Though...despite everything he had to admit, it had been nice sometimes. To think that somebody out there believed in him. That maybe he was more than just a better, smarter Pallazi.

He wondered who had been behind Pallazi, who had given him the drugs to take out the Flash. He also wondered how long Barry'd had been listening, whether he'd heard that part of the conversation or come in too late. But... so what the Flash didn't believe in him anymore? Len would still keep an eye out, maybe do some investigating of his own. There was another player in the game, someone smart. Sneaky too.

He looked out of the window again and spotted police cars heading this way. Time to be going. He began to run.

 


	2. April

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbetaed, if you spot any mistakes, let me know.

Barry rested his head on the bottom of the trunk. He'd been trying batter it open for ages but without his superpowers, no luck. He vaguely recalled watching some late night TV show where they told you to punch out one of the rear lights to escape, but he obviously hadn't been paying close enough attention because he couldn't figure it out.

He shivered slightly, his kidnapper obviously knew there was tech in the suit and had removed it, leaving him in just his underwear. He wondered where he was, and if Cisco and Caitlin were looking for him. They were smart and he had faith they would find him and figure it out, even without the tracker in his suit. His hand was aching and bruised from hammering on the side of the car, trying to make some noise, but he was obviously somewhere away from people. The car wasn't even moving, he'd just been locked up and left.

He tried not to think about what would happen if nobody found him or his kidnapper came back. The trunk wasn't air tight, so he would get air, but water? Food? Luckily it was April or he'd have to worry about heat too. It wasn't how he wanted to go. He didn't even know how long he'd been trapped, time seemed to pass in strangely when there was no way to mark it. He tried to keep calm; slow, steady breaths, and he felt his eyes closing. He would start yelling and hammering again in a few minutes. He just needed a little rest.

*

Len grinned as he ran from the sirens, painting gripped tightly under his arm, protected from the warm rain by his parka. It was a little too warm, slightly uncomfortable, the parka really was designed for winter and not mid spring, but even that couldn't dampen his enthusiasm. Perfectly timed. The police really needed quicker response times if they ever wanted to catch him. The rest of the Rogues had worked perfectly in sync and they were really starting to come together, due to his fantastic leadership of course. The sound of the curator yelling after him was like music to his ears.

Suddenly there was a whirl of lightning around him and he found himself behind bars and in a cell. It looked like...yes, the pipeline at Star Labs.

Had Barry forgotten about their deal? Did he not care about keeping his identity secret anymore? Len tried to take an inventory of things he might have done recently to piss Barry off, but nothing leapt straight to mind. No deaths, nothing that would get Scarlet really riled up.

He hadn't actually seen Barry in months though, not after their little team up with the Pallazis. Pallazi hadn't really caused much trouble for him in the end but Len hated him for being the spark that had come between them. Len'd spun the Rogues a story about helping the Flash to gain favours, and most of them had bought it, in the end they trusted him more than they trusted some small time crime boss. But his relationship with Barry...that was taking longer to fix.

Len was flushed from the running so he took off his coat and put the painting down against a wall of the cell. He sat down on the floor. Who knew how long it would be before somebody came?

*

He heard them before he could see them. Loud arguing echoed down the hall, it sounded like Cisco, Caitlin and Barry. They were still arguing as they rounded the corner and came into view.

"Captain Cold," Caitlin said. "It seems there's been a misunderstanding. We're letting you go, please don't reveal Barry's identity to anyone."

"Fine by me," he said. He got to his feet and Caitlin pressed a button to open the cell door.

"Can I ask what exactly the misunderstanding was?" Len said looking at Barry, who glared at him.

"We'll let you know when we figure it out ourselves," Cisco muttered under his breath. Huh. Len picked up his stuff and the painting, then headed out past them. When he got a few feet away, the arguing started up again. Hmmmm.

It was obvious something odd was going on at Star Labs and Len wanted to know what. Maybe there would be profit in it for him. And...if he also ended up looking out for Barry at the same time, well that was just an added bonus. It wasn't his main reason for doing it. Definitely not. But if he could get the Scarlet Speedster to actually acknowledge his existence, that would just be an added extra.

So he returned to the Rogues' safe house with the painting, and made excuses about why he'd been delayed, the Rogues surrounded him and Mick slapped him on the back in congratulations. Len slowly managed to extricate himself and went to his room to change. How was he going to figure out what was going on? What he really needed was information on Barry. Len hadn't bothered to shadow Allen in a while, he’d been trying to forget about everything that'd happened.

It had obviously been a mistake, and now something was going on at Star Labs that he didn't know about. He changed into a black t-shirt and jeans, and he'd just finished changing when Lisa burst in through the door.

"You could have knocked sis," he raised an eyebrow.

She shrugged. "I gave you plenty of time to change. I heard you got away with the painting then?"

"In no small part due to your fantastic distraction."

"I also heard you got delayed." Lisa held his gaze, but Len said nothing. Eventually she relented. "Okay, okay, a little birdie told me you ended up in a cell at Star Labs for an hour." Damn. Cisco's relationship with Lisa could really be annoying sometimes.

"So....spill," she said. "What did you do to annoy him this time? Cisco doesn't know, said Barry was being evasive all afternoon. That must mean it was personal between you. So....what did you do?"

"Nothing, that I'm aware of."

Lisa raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yes." It was interesting that Cisco didn't know though. So it wasn't something odd going on at Star Labs, it was just something odd going on with Barry.

"I was planning to investigate tonight," he said.

"So...you really don't know why Barry's acting strangely?"

"No, I really don't," he said, grabbing a leather jacket. "I was going to try tailing him for a few days, see if he does anything interesting or out of the ordinary.

"Well, let me know what you find out," she said. "Cisco and Caitlin would probably like to know too, they've been pretty worried."

"I'll let you know."

"Good luck," Lisa said from the doorway, and he nodded. "I hope you figure it out."

"Me too."

*

The light blinded Barry for a second. Before he could move, escape, there was a flash of lightning and he felt something being injected into his neck. Then he was back in the darkness again.

Time passed and he must have fallen asleep at some point because he startled awake as he felt himself being lifted. Then before he could blink he was somewhere else. The light blinded him after so long in darkness and he squinted, trying to make out the new room he was in. It looked like some sort cupboard, cleaning supplies were piled high on shelves above where he was sitting, and he spotted a mop and bucket in the corner. He looked round and suddenly realised he wasn't alone. He gradually managed to open his eyes a little further and could just make out a familiar blue parka.

"Hi Barry," Len said.

"What's going on? Did...you kidnap me?"

Len was already shaking his head. "No. I think I've figured out what's going on though kid."

"What?"

"I didn't kidnap you, in fact, I'm pretty sure _you_ kidnapped you."

"What? I don't...I've been trapped for....I don't know how long, but I've been stuck in a car trunk for, it must be at least a day or two."

Len nodded. "Well, someone looking and sounding like you has been running around Central City for the last few days pretending to be the Flash."

"And nobody noticed?" Barry didn't know whether to be offended or not.

"We did notice actually, why do you think I'm here, just got kidnapped for the fun of it?" Len shook his head. "Something was off so I decided to follow the fake you, try and figure out what was going on. But the guy must have spotted me somehow, I was flashed here. Few seconds later, you showed up."

Barry tried to get his head around it. Someone had been impersonating him for the last few days, but... they had his speed. That was worrying. He'd fought shape shifters before and while they could be tricky to fight, it was possible. But another speedster? Those were never easy, and this one definitely wasn't a friendly.

"Okay, we'll figure it out later but we need to get out of here."

"Uh huh, unfortunately we appear to be handcuffed to the radiator," Len said, rattling the chains. "Can you flash us out of here?"

Barry shook his head. "He...the speedster...was injecting me with something. Like that time last winter when I was captured. I don't have my speed. I think it'll wear off in a few hours like it did last time but for now, we're stuck. Did you tell anybody what was going on?"

"Of course, I'm not an idiot in a crime drama. Lisa knew what I was doing, she'll alert the others when I'm not back in a few hours."

Barry relaxed. "Ah okay. I'm sure they'll figure out how to find us, even if it takes a few hours."

Len frowned. "I'm not sure we have that long. Something has changed, the speedster's had his cover blown. He put us together in this room for some reason, we don't know what's going on." He shook his head. "I think it would be dangerous to wait."

"Well, if we could escape now, then obviously that would be _great_. But in case you hadn't noticed, we're both chained to this radiator."

Len looked down at the cuffs, eyeing them. "I know these," he said. "I should be able to get out of them."

"What?" Barry rolled his eyes. "Why am I surprised that you know how to escape a pair of handcuffs. Fine then, if you really think we shouldn't wait." He watched Len take a deep breath, then smash his right hand against the radiator. There was a loud crunch.

"What!" Barry jumped and startled backwards, though he couldn't go very far, still handcuffed to the radiator.

"Dislocated the thumb," Len said. Barry looked at Len's hand and at the damaged digit. Len winced as he managed to slip his hand out of the cuffs. With his right hand free he reached into a pocket of his coat and pulled out a piece of wire. Within seconds, Len was uncuffed. He walked over to Barry and undid his cuffs.

"Thanks," Barry said, rubbing his wrists. He got to his feet but stumbled against the shelves. He was weak, hungry and thirsty, and he hadn't walked in days. Len came and put his good arm around Barry's waist, supporting him.

"Thanks," Barry murmured. Len's arm around his waist made him suddenly very aware that he was only wearing boxers, and he blushed.

Len just smiled slightly. "Let's get out of here. I wonder where we are."

They staggered the few steps to the door and Len bashed it open with a well aimed shove. The door opened onto a hallway in what looked like a flat. There were a few doors off the hallway, he could spot a kitchen, a living room, and there was what looked like a front door at the end of the hallway.

Len turned them towards the front door.

"Maybe we should look around, figure out what's going on?" Barry said.

Len shook his head. "We can't fight a speedster like this. If he comes back now and wants to kill us, we're finished.

Barry sighed. "You're right. It would be nice to figure out what's going on though, who this guy really is. I mean...he looks like me but who _is_ he?"

They shuffled towards the door. The hallway was mostly empty apart from a small cabinet, converse shoes in the bottom, a bowl for keys on the top. There was also a large glass photo frame. Barry grabbed it on the way past and looked at the picture. Strangely enough, the picture was of him and Len. They were fighting, but it wasn't any fight that Barry remembered, their costumes were wrong, still recognisable, but wrong. The other thing that stood out to Barry though was the smile that was clearly visible on Len's face in the picture and Barry suspected if you flipped the camera around so that the Flash's face was visible, there would be a matching grin.

"Look at this." He handed it to Len. Len stared at it, and a small frown appeared on his face.

"I don't remember this."

"Me neither," Barry said. "I have a bad feeling about this. Do you think we have a stalker?”

"No. I think..." As Len spoke there was a flash of lightning, and suddenly the Flash was standing before them.

Everyone stopped moving. The Flash in front of them slowly reached up a hand and removed his cowl. Before them stood Barry Allen.

"What the _fuck_ is going on?" Len said.

"Look, I can explain..." Allen took a step closer to them, hands out placating. "Please just listen." He took another step closer, almost in arms reach."

"Okay, we'll listen," Len placated, but Barry spotted him hefting the glass photo frame in his hands.

Allen relaxed and took another step closer. "Thank you, you see..." Smack. In an instant Len's arm flicked up and smashed the photo frame over his double's head. Barry winced slightly in sympathy as Allen fell backwards with a thump. Out cold.

*

Barry stepped up to the glass cell. The man behind it was almost like a reflection. But no, some things weren't right, he was a little off around the eyes and he held himself a little differently.

"Who are you?" Barry asked.

"I'd have thought that was obvious," Allen stepped a little closer to the glass.

"I've met metas who can shape shift before."

"Metas with the speed force? I don't think so."

"Why did you try to kill me? You don't seem super evil, you didn't go on a killing spree but you did kind of kidnap me and lock me in a trunk? And...last year. The Pallazis, giving them the drugs to keep me under, that was you?"

Allen nodded.

"Why?" Barry asked again. "Why are you here?"

"Let's just say there was..." Allen frowned and paused. "An incident on my Earth."

"Like an apocalypse?"

Allen laughed loudly. "No, no, much smaller in scale, of a more personal nature. From my research here you're a hero here, right?"

Barry crossed his arms.

"I thought so. Well me, not so much. I was stealing some stuff, got into a fight with Cold...blah, blah, blah, ended up in a sticky situation. Decided to hop worlds, it was the only way out. Thought I could live a quiet life here, Cold doesn't have the powers to jump worlds, so I would be safe."

"You didn't exactly stay quiet when you were here." Barry said. "You tried to kill me!"

Allen shrugged. "The jump burnt me out, and I did lie low for a while, months in fact, but there was nothing to do. I could easily steal enough money for food and clothes and an apartment, then what? No passport, no id, no education here...there was nothing for me to do. I kept seeing you in the papers out there having fun, and I was just sitting in that apartment staring at the same four walls. I wanted to be the Flash again."

It still didn't make sense to Barry. "So you wanted to take me out so that you could take my place? Play hero?"

Allen nodded.

"Surely were easier ways to than using the Pallazis? And then waiting three months to make your move again? Why didn't you just kill me straight up, hand through the heart while I slept one night?"

Allen sighed and turned away from the glass. "I did try," he said. "But I'm a criminal, not a psychopath. Murdering myself while I slept?" Allen shook his head. "No. That was too much, even for me. So then I thought, why not go through someone else? The Pallazis could catch you and kill you, I'd just quietly take your place, no-one would connect it to me. They might have bragged about killing you but who'd believe them with the Flash still alive and speeding round the city? But of course they traded you to Snart, who didn't kill you but set you free instead." Barry spotted a small smile playing around the corner of Allen's mouth. "I should have guessed then."

"Guessed what?"

"That your relationship with Cold is as complicated as mine is. But no, I just assumed it was a fluke."

Barry decided to ignore that for now. "But then why did you decide to wait months?"

"After the Pallazis, it seemed like a sign that I should reconsider, at least wait, do some more research." Allen turned and looked straight at Barry. "I don't hate you or anything. I'm sure you're a nice guy, likes to rescue puppies, help old ladies, that sort of thing. But..." Allen ran his hands through his hair. "I got impatient, I couldn't last. I need a _life_ , I needed something to do, I needed to be able to _run_ again. I kind of went a little crazy when I put you in the trunk. Just making it up as I went along really, I was hoping I'd be able to figure something out, maybe I would work up the courage to kill you, maybe I could think of some other plan. But I messed it up, your Len messed it up for me, again. It was only my first day being you, being the hero. I didn't think, I just assumed....”

Allen looked down and swallowed. “It's different here, you being the hero, Cold being your enemy, I just assumed you would try to catch him and put him in jail, I didn't realise you had a "special arrangement"," Allen used air quotes. "In the three months I was watching you, you didn't meet up or talk once, how was I supposed to know? Though like I said, extrapolating from my relationship with Len, I should have guessed."

"Why didn't you just kill Len then, instead of putting him in with me? You must have known he'd escape, we'd escape together."

"I couldn't kill him," Allen said. "I just couldn't. Everything had gone wrong, it was obvious the game was up. I was hoping I could talk to you, maybe explain....but Len was very handy with that picture frame."

"The picture in the frame, that was of your Earth?" Barry asked.

"Yeah, me and Cold. didn't have much time to grab my on my way out."

Barry frowned. He still thought it was a little bit weird that Allen had a newspaper clipping of him and Captain Cold framed.

"So...what are you going to do with me?" Allen asked.

"I..."

"The only person I've really hurt is you. Tried to anyway. You going to keep me here forever? You could just let me go, I think could manage another hop to another world now I’ve had time to recover."

"What so you can do the same to some other poor Barry?" he snorted.

"No, I'd make sure to find a world where we don't exist. I could be the first Flash there, I was under a lot of pressure the first jump and just picked the first vaguely suitable world. Like I said, I don't hate you...me. It wasn't personal."

Barry couldn't believe he was considering it, but...what was the alternative? Keep the guy locked up in the pipeline for years?

"The answer is no." The voice came from behind Barry and he spotted Len leaning against the corner of the hallway. Barry spotted a white bandage around his hand and thumb. Caitlin had obviously wrapped it like she’d wrapped Barry’s hands, though as soon as he’d got his speed back the damage from battering on the trunk his injuries had healed in minutes.

"How long have you been there?" Barry asked.

"Long enough. And if you think we're letting Allen go, you're crazy." He turned to Allen. "You tried to kill Barry for no real reason, we can't trust you."

"There was a reason..."

Len laughed. "You could have just asked Barry, it's what our Barry would have done in your situation. You could have just gone to Star Labs, explained the situation and I'm sure they would have helped you, they're nice like that."

"I didn't know them..."

"No you didn't. But your first thought and solution was murdering Barry!"

"Len..." Allen looked distressed.

"It's Captain Cold," he said. "We're not going to let you go." He turned away disappeared around the corner. Barry paused for a second, and then ran after him, away from Allen. He finally caught up with Len halfway down the corridor.

"What on Earth was that about?" Barry asked and Len stopped, facing away from him. Barry was suddenly reminded that the last time they'd spoken properly was three months ago, when Len had spared him. And tried to kill Pallazi.

"Come on Barry. He tried to kill you. Would you even have been considering this if it was Iris he tried to kill? Joe? Cisco? No, if someone had tried to kill your friends, even if they failed, you wouldn't even be considering letting them go."

"But..."

"You know it's true. If you let him go, that guy could still very well hurt you. You wouldn't take the risk if it was anyone else's life on the line."

Len was right, and Barry realised looking up into Len's eyes that the man was just protecting him. "You're right."

"I know." They just looked at each other for a few seconds, and Len sighed. "Are you still angry with me?" he asked.

"What?"

"We haven't spoken much since that night three months ago."

"Yeah...I'm sorry." "I apologize."

They spoke at the same time.

"You go first," Barry nodded.

Len took a deep breath. "You made me promise not to kill innocents. And I knew what you meant when you asked me that, I knew you meant 'only use violence in self defence and to take out people trying to kill you'. But Pallazi...he was dangerous to you, to me, not physically... no, but there are many different ways to hurt someone, and I will kill to protect people I....

"I know that," Barry interrupted. "I know that there's a part of you that will do whatever it takes. But... you made me feel fucking stupid." Barry didn't usually swear, but it just slipped out. He looked down at his shoes briefly. "I gave you that stupid speech about goodness at the prison, and then when you offered to work together, I decided to trust you. When I asked you not to kill innocents, you took my at the letter of my words, but you knew what I really meant, right?"

Len nodded.

"You made me feel like a fool for even trying," Barry half smiled. "I mean, Joe is always telling me that trusting you is a dangerous business.

"I didn't mean to make you feel that way." Len was watching him closely. "I can't promise I'll ever change, but...I'm glad you try."

"I think I know that now," Barry said. "But I didn't at the time.

"So we're talking again then?" Len's face was impassive, but Barry spotted a small twitch, Len was nervous.

Barry nodded. "I think so."

Len visibly relaxed. "Wonderful, I've missed out little chats," Len said dryly, but Barry could tell that Len was pleased.

He grinned back. "Me too."

*

4 months later

Cisco was slumped over the console in the cortex. Ugh, it was...he checked the time...3:00am. Definitely time to go home. Suddenly a blue light appeared in the centre of the room, and gusts of wind swirled around a portal, sucking in papers from nearby desks. Cisco squinted against the sudden bright light, he could just make out a small figure in the centre. They got larger and larger, closer and closer, until eventually a man stepped out into the real world.

He was dressed in a light blue jacket, fur hood, goggles, with a strange gun strapped to his waist in a holster. It sort of reminded Cisco of someone, but he couldn't quite....

"Who are you?" he asked.

The man paused, and then took off his goggles. "Hello Cisco, I'm Citizen Cold."

**Author's Note:**

> Estimating two more parts to this.
> 
> My Tumblr:
> 
> http://xxxneweyesxxx.tumblr.com/


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